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Indians express concern for Royals' Gordon

Indians express concern for Royals' Gordon

7/3/13: Jason Kipnis hits a liner to left field that deflects off Alex Gordon's glove, resulting in a three-run inside-the-park homer

By Jordan Bastian
/
MLB.com |

KANSAS CITY -- The Indians were still expressing concern about Alex Gordon one day after the Royals left fielder exited Wednesday's game with a hip injury and a possible concussion.

Gordon fell awkwardly and slammed the back of his head on the left-field wall while attempting to catch a Jason Kipnis' fly ball in the sixth inning of Cleveland's 6-5 loss. Kipnis wound up with an unlikely inside-the-park home run, but the Tribe was hardly celebrating the rare feat.

"You could tell our whole team was worried," Indians manager Terry Francona said on Thursday. "You're so excited to see your guy run around the field, but at the same time, there was no jumping around. And everybody was looking out to make sure [Gordon] was OK. That's how we all felt. That's not a good feeling, seeing somebody laying there."

Gordon was being evaluated on Thursday to determine the extent of his injuries.

Shortly after crossing home plate, Kipnis apologized to Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez for initially celebrating the home run. The Indians second baseman did not realize Gordon was still down on the ground in left field when he scored.

"All of us respect Alex over in this locker room," Kipnis said. "So we all wish him the best and a speedy recovery from whatever it was. We heard it was a bruised hip and a concussion. We hope he's all right. You never want to see a play like that happen, but at the same time it was a big play in the game for us. Emotions just kind of come out at the time."

Kipnis' inside-the-park homer was the first for an Indians hitter since Jhonny Peralta accomplished the feat on July 18, 2010, against the Tigers. On that play, outfielder Ryan Raburn -- now with Cleveland -- crashed through the bullpen door in center field at Progressive Field while the baseball ricocheted back into center field.

"I remember that," Raburn said with a chuckle. "I can't believe that gate [opened]. Well, I hit it pretty hard, though. It was closed. I just busted it open when I hit it. That was just one of those many, many things that went wrong when I was [in Detroit]."